The present invention relates generally to the making of wire harness, and more particularly to a combination of automated and manual techniques that provide circuit and process versatility and otherwise effective control of the manufacturing process.
The assembly of wire harnesses, particularly those of complex design such as found in automobiles, is typically labor intensive in an environment where quality requirements have become increasingly stringent. As a result, harness manufacturers look to automated assembly techniques as a way to reduce the incidence of random manufacturing defects.
Generally, wire harness manufacturers have been relatively slow to embrace automated processing as an answer to the difficult task of complying with rigorous quality standards. Most of this reluctance can be traced directly to the high number of process variables (e.g., wire gauge, wire length, wire color, wire marking, terminal type, connector type, etc. ), and the flexible, locationally unpredictable nature of wire itself, i.e., a wire can bend and/or twist such that its length dimension changes. The resultant variety of assembly process characteristics, coupled with shifting volume demand and design features for automotive harness, make automated wire harness assembly a formidable challenge.
Automated wiring harness assembly of automotive harness, such as ignition harness, has been undertaken, but success has not always been attainable. The flexibility necessary to adapt to the multitude of process, design and demand variables has not readily been realized. In addition, there is a need for automated apparatus to be integrated and harmonized with peripheral manual assembly operations.